In the slaughtering process for hogs, the hog carcasses are subjected to a dehairing operation which removes substantially all of the hair and leaves the hog skin and remaining hair and the skin wetted with water. Accordingly, moisture is on the skin after the dehairing operation. Heretofore, the dehaired hogs have been next subjected to a singeing operation by traversing the hogs through a conventional singer. Since the singer includes a cabinet having burners for generating flame to flame-treat the hog skin and remove the remainder of the hair, the energy level in the singer must be such that the singeing operation is satisfactory. Because of surface moisture on the hog skin, it is necessary to remove that moisture prior to satisfactorily completing the singeing operation. Thus, the moisture must be first evaporated. This generates water vapor at the skin and insulates the hair at the surface from exposure to the flame. Accordingly, the energy level must be such to first evaporate the moisture before the hair can be singed by the flame. Sometimes, because of the moisture, the singeing operation is not satisfactory.